So... I was there on Sunday and walked over by the former DA! entrance and also rode Racer trying to get a look. Pretty sure I didn't see any additional tree clearing, but I saw areas that looked empty, but that's where Dinos used to be and are now vacant. Maybe I missed something, but didn't see any mass clearing going on.
Obviously they have plans for the area, but I'm not sure I saw anything getting started.

A mistake I won't be making twice! Had fun on my trip last May, but I could've done without the bugs flying everywhere/splattered on every restraint!
I'd rather have a terrain hugging ride like Maverick (maybe Intamin, or maybe even Mack) than a Giga to be honest... That's just me though...

Ideas for the Crypt building? Tear it down. And tear down the SOB station and Action FX Theater at this point. If KI isn't going to put these structures to better use than a haunted house for 1 month every season, they need to go. I'd honestly love to see the Blackout building, Slaughterhouse building, and Killmart go too, but I don't see that happening. At the very least, tear down the old rides that are only used for Haunt now. Such a tacky look. And I'm a big Haunt fan.

I can't attest to Opening Day itself, but I went last year on the first full week it was open and experienced a handful of breakdowns, most notably on Top Thrill Dragster (not the most reliable ride on any day, but still). We got lucky with the weather, and got to ride most things since we were there multiple days (except Top Thrill Dragster), but beware the May Flies... Skipped riding Gemini because they were so bad.
Overall, based off what people are saying, looks like there couple be some hiccups, but you should still be able to have a fun time.

My guess is a Giga, as that, in my opinion, is the current big void in KI's lineup compared to the other large parks in the chain. Also, this seems to be the best location for one, and would breathe life into fairly dead end of the park (if the entrance is back there).
If it is a Giga, I hope they don't give it a name with the height in it... I hate the names Fury 325 and Intimidator 305.

No doubt that the Mickey ride will be great (seriously, how is Mickey just now getting a ride??), but the decision to replace The Great Movie Ride is a real head scratcher. I'm not a fan of addition by subtraction in any park, but DHS in particular doesn't lend itself well to that concept at all. I know there's more to these parks than rides, but this will bring the total number of actual rides down to 4 in the whole park until next summer. Would've much rather seen this go in the Animation Courtyard area in place of Star Wars Launch Bay.
Glad I got multiple rides in on my last visit to Disney World, the ride will really be missed. Still excited for the Mickey ride.

I must be mistaken, I guess I didn't notice the TVs in the woodshed area on gold pass night or on opening day. Could've sworn they were security footage, but could definitely see that maybe they were just turned off and I passed them by. I really just hate that they went through so much work to build up the story and now we have some mediocre pop songs playing over the theme music. It was really only noticeable near the screen in my experience but still killed the mood.
That all being said, don't get me wrong. I love this ride. I love that they themed it like they did. And I honestly enjoy the shed a ton, I think it's a lot of fun. But there are improvements that could be made very easily.

^ While I don't 100% agree with all of your above points (I think I actually have the story down pretty well, it's simple but good), I agree with a good majority of what you're saying.
I've complained about it before, but FunTV... I get it. I'm sure it generates some ad revenue, I don't mind it in the majority of the queues... but I really do not like it in the "themed" queues... This and Boo Blasters in particular. It can be a nice distraction in some, but in the queues that at least try to be themed and build atmosphere, it is terrible. Hearing pop music play over the themed music score just does not work. And Boo Blasters, which looks surprisingly good this year, why is there two TVs playing music in a haunted castle? I know this isn't Disney or Universal, but there are easy/inexpensive improvements that can go a long way.
And completely agree with the you on the spieling... It needs to go away on all rides. Bring back pre-recorded spiels PLEASE or at least give them a script. I'm glad the ride ops are enjoying themselves, but way too often it's just obnoxious and many times on the smaller or older rides, the ride ops mocking the ride they work. Sometimes it works (Beast at night) but more often than not spieling is annoying, and just cheapens the experience.
I kind of disagree with you on the queue in general though... while it could definitely be more immersive, I love the route they took with it, making it a winding path with wooden fences (and some standard switchbacks) as opposed to all switchbacks. And I think it'll look very nice when some of the foliage grows in a bit more.
To sum it up... I love Kings Island doing a story based attraction again and hope for more in the future, but it would be nice to see them go a little more "in" on it.

I'm way behind on this topic, so apologies if some of this has been mentioned already, but just a couple quick things...
Rode Boo Blasters last week, and the ride was looking much better than it has since the year it opened. Most effects working, with several that had not been working in recent years restored. Like how they've managed to incorporate what was once on the fog screen into the TV towards the end (Fog screen was better when working, but I'll take this over nothing). Also had the added bonus of the guns working. Great job KI! Now if only they'd get rid of those stupid FunTVs in line.
Speaking of FunTV... I was disappointed to see some of the TVs that were originally showing the "security cam" footage in line for Mystic Timbers, are now showing FunTV. I don't mind this completely, because the TVs closest to the station were still showing the security cam footage. What bothered me was the sound from them, especially when they were playing music videos. It conflicted with the atmospheric theme music playing in the queue, which a) ruined the vibe in the queue, and b) Sounded bad with the two songs playing over each other. You could really only hear the TVs when you were right by them, so again it could be worse.
Overall, everything in the park is look amazing this year. Kudos to everyone on the Kings Island team. I've had 2 great visits so far this year.

Nice interview!
The shed has actually grown on me the more I've ridden. It's actually very well themed and I've seen people jump for some of the surprises inside which has been fun. So much better than just sitting on a plain brake run.

Finally! I was very pleasantly surprised walking into the park on Saturday. As others have said, it really took me back to my visits to the park growing up. This is how International Street should always be.

Though relocation within the park was always a slim to none chance (never say never!), I was always in the move BLSC to Days of Thunder/Thunder Alley camp. I think it would have been a much more fitting location for it. Of course, that was before Banshee.
Backlot isn't a bad ride (it's pretty fun actually), I just hate what it did to that area of the park.

I'll believe it when it's about 95% done and they've announced an opening date. Hopefully they'll have better luck than good ol' DreamVision Mountain!
http://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/whatever-happened-to-that-fort-worth-theme-park-project-8951620
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO6u23rdD-s